By Darrin Simmons, 
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SANA’A, Yemen-Increased threats of terrorist activities have caused the evacuation of U.S. Citizens as well as other Western nations in Yemen.  Following an intercepted electronic message between al-Qaeda leaders, a total of twenty one embassies have closed down.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying: “U.S. citizens currently in Yemen should depart. As staff levels at the Embassy are restricted, our ability to assist U.S. citizens in an emergency and provide routine consular services remains limited…The security threat level in Yemen is extremely high.”

The statement also noted that attacks on the U.S. Embassy Compound in September 2012 and the death of a U.S. citizen in Taiz in March 2012 at the hands of al-Qaeda have caused additional reasons for concern.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a highly sophisticated al-Qaeda affiliate, has been operating out of Yemen for many years, planning and attempting to carry out massive attacks on the U.S. both locally and overseas.  AQAP was behind the “underwear bomber” who attempted detonation of a bomb on a plane over Detroit in December 2009.

U.S. officials have claimed that it is unclear and there is still no information pertaining to a specific target or location of a potential attack.  However, the extroardinary and unprecedented security measures were put in place as the potential threat in Yemen has been classified  as one of the most serious threats since 9/11.

Approximately one hundred U.S. government personnel were evacuated and carried out by an US Air Force C-17 at dawn on Tuesday morning.  The personnel were headed for Ramstein air base in Germany with some essential embassy staff staying behind.

The heightened security measures have been implemented in the aftermath of a U.S. drone strike that hit central Yemen on Tuesday.  The drone strike killed four suspected al-Qaeda members hiding in Yemen with none being considered to be in high leadership positions.

George Little, the Pentagon Press Secretary stated that “the Defense Department continues to have personnel on the ground in Yemen to support the U.S. State Department and monitor the security situation.”

Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi criticized the U.S. decision to evacuate saying, “Unfortunately, these measures, although they are taken to protect their citizens, in reality they serve the goals that the terrorist elements are seeking to achieve.”

“Yemen had taken these threats seriously and had taken all the necessary measures to protect all the foreign missions in the country,” claimed al-Qirbi.

The U.K. also evacuated its embassy staff and “strongly” urged British citizens to leave immediately.  “If you don’t leave the country now while commercial carriers are still flying it is extremely unlikely that the British government will be able to evacuate you or provide consular assistance,” said the U.K. government.

Former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Michael Leiter, expressed his opinion that the activities in Yemen are “certainly nothing remotely close to the worst thing we have seen since 9/11.” However, he went on to say, “We have been wrong on stuff before.”

For more information, please see the following: 

Aljazeera – U.S. and U.K. urge citizens to leave Yemen – 6 August 2013

Guardian – Yemen security alert: US and British citizens told to leave  – 6 August 2013

Independent –  Yemen airlift: U.S. and U.K. fly staff out as al-Qa’ida terror threat level rises – 6 August 2013

NBC News – US personnel evacuated from Yemen; Americans urged to leave amid terror threat – 6 August 2013